Drug overdose reported in Plymouth court

A woman with Narcan in her purse saves the life of a juror in Plymouth.

Comment

By Michael Norton and Andy MetzgerState House News Service

Wicked Local

By Michael Norton and Andy MetzgerState House News Service

Posted Mar. 21, 2014 at 12:01 AM
Updated Mar 21, 2014 at 3:33 PM

By Michael Norton and Andy MetzgerState House News Service

Posted Mar. 21, 2014 at 12:01 AM
Updated Mar 21, 2014 at 3:33 PM

» Social News

(Editor's note: A story posted to this website on Thursday gave incorrect details about the death of a woman who was seen semi-conscious in Plymouth District Court on Feb. 25. She died in Carver on March 8.)

BOSTON -- A juror's life was saved this week in Plymouth District Court by a woman with Narcan in her purse.

Judge Rosemary Minehan, who oversees drug court sessions in Plymouth, described the life-saving effort in her courtroom when the man overdosed.

“He’s completely out of it, no heartbeat. A woman in the back of the jury room says, ‘I belong to Learn to Cope. I have a Narcan.’ She opens her pocketbook and out pops her mascara, and she has a Narcan,” Minehan told lawmakers and staff at a briefing Wednesday at the State House.

“Dude, he wakes up looks at the court officer and says, ‘Am I going to get into trouble for not being a juror today?’ That’s our life in the courthouse.”

Naloxone, or Narcan, is used to treat opioid dependence and alcohol dependence. Cope is an organization for parents of drug addicts.

After the briefing, Minehan showed a video of a semi-coherent woman in Plymouth court. She said she had received the video from the woman’s aunt.

“I never thought I’d say things to the court officers, ‘Tran, can you make sure the sheriff knows that’s a benzo withdrawal and he can’t cold turkey. I say that,” Minehan said.

Minehan said judges can involuntarily commit dangerous drug and alcohol addicts for treatment, and the district court with the most such commitments is Quincy, followed by Brockton, and then Plymouth.

Sen. Therese Murray, who next week will hold a forum in Plymouth on the state’s opiate addiction crisis, said the problem is a public health crisis.

“The Cape is experiencing also an inordinate amount of overdoses,” Murray said during an interview on WATD-FM Thursday. “It goes right across the age range. But particularly for our young people it’s just an epidemic. They get hooked.”

The Special Commission on Drug Abuse and Treatment Options is scheduled to hold a hearing at Plymouth Public Library Tuesday at 1 p.m. Murray said the public is invited to attend but testimony will be allowed only from invited individuals who she said were “experts.”

Murray said the commission would also hold a similar meeting on Cape Cod.

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, 916 people died as a direct result of drug use in 2009, more than traffic accidents and firearms combined. The 13.9 per 100,000 rate of drug-induced deaths in Massachusetts is also well above the national rate of 12.8.

Page 2 of 2 - Individuals with substance abuse problems or their family members can ask a judge to commit them for treatment, which is handled either at treatment facilities in Brockton and New Bedford or if there are no available beds there, at correctional facilities in Framingham and Bridgewater.